Oklahoma City plays tonight against the Pelicans, if they win, then they have locked up the 2nd position in the west. Without chances to lose it. And they are in no position to get to the 1st position in the west. 3rd are the Clippers, 2 games behind the Thunders. If the Thunders lose against the pelicans and detroit, and Clippers win against Denver and Portland, OKC and LA will be tied in the 2nd spot. We can assume that if OKC somehow lose tonight's game, they will be going hard against the Pistons on wednesday to secure the 2nd spot.

In the Kings' front we have Phoenix. Currently the west is like this:

7- Dallas (49-32) 8- Memphis (48-32) 9- Phoenix (47-33)

Phoenix faces the Grizzlies tonight and the Kings on wednesday, they can't afford to lose any of those games to enter the playoffs.

Memphis, besides facing the Suns in Phoenix tonight, they fly back home on wednesday to face no one else than the Dallas Mavericks! So, if they want to hold on to the playoffs, they even have a chance at the 7th seed.

Scenario 1:

Phoenix win both games Memphis lose against Phoenix but wins against Dallas

Outcome:

Dallas 49-33 Memphis 49-33 Phoenix 49-33

In that case:

Three-team tiebreaker:

Division winner (this criterion is applied regardless of whether the tied teams are in the same division)

Best head-to-head winning percentage among all teams tied

Highest winning percentage within division (if all tied teams are in the same division)

This being said, I think we need a miracle to the Kings to beat the Suns. (There is a chance if Phoenix lose tonight, the team might be sad and they will face the Kings without enthusiasm.. Who knows? Strange things used to happen)

Also there is the chance that Oklahoma City win tonight and then go and play Detroit with their bench players, saving Durant and Westbrook for the upcoming Playoffs.

(And the Pelicans don't have Anthony Davis and they don't have anything to win for, they are battling the 9th seed in the Draft against the Cleveland Cavaliers)

So, in my point of view, we need to root for this things

1- Pistons to lose OKC (And for this, is better for us if the Thunder somehow lose tonight against the Pelicans and feel the pressure of the Clippers knocking on the door on the 2nd spot, making the Thunder to play hard against Detroit) 2- Kings to beat the Suns (Unlikely, but it would help if the Phoenix lose tonight against Memphis, erasing their hope dreams.)

(Even if we get tied with Sacramento for the 7th seed tothe draft, there is still the coin toss that we need to win. But there is a chance!)

A lot of work and good analysis S. J........I think the Pistons beat Sac town twice, so wouldn't the Kings automatically get the nod on the 7th? I didn't read all of the tie breaking scenarios, but ....

A lot of work and good analysis S. J........I think the Pistons beat Sac town twice, so wouldn't the Kings automatically get the nod on the 7th? I didn't read all of the tie breaking scenarios, but ....

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Head-to-head doesn't matter in the tiebreaker. They split the ping pong balls and the spot goes to a coin toss.

Wow! What a game between Memphis and Phoenix! Memphis won, leaving Phoenix out of the playoffs. Great 4th quarter.

In crunch time Conley hit a 2 and then an open 3 to take the lead, Then later the Suns cut the game with fouls, Conley at the free throw line, a 83% shooter, missed both! Phoenix attack, can't score, foul on Conley, missed the first, scores the 2nd. (so, 1 of 4 in crunch time...)

Dragic makes a huge mistake with a bad pass at the end, directed to Randolph who run the court and score against 2 Suns. And the Suns had the chances to get even, but they missed the threes.

So if I read this right and Sacramento somehow pull out a win and we lose - the 7th spot comes down to a coin toss?

We have had enough bad luck over the past few years with the Karen Davidson greed and Dumars free agency picks. Please basketball gods, let this happen and us win the 7th spot (then jump from 7th to 5th on lottery night).

So if I read this right and Sacramento somehow pull out a win and we lose - the 7th spot comes down to a coin toss?

We have had enough bad luck over the past few years with the Karen Davidson greed and Dumars free agency picks. Please basketball gods, let this happen and us win the 7th spot (then jump from 7th to 5th on lottery night).

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You can't jump from 7th to 5th. They draw 3 teams to "jump" to the top 3 spots. If a team finished 7th in the lottery standings, it would either draft: